Superman vs ISIS
by TwilightSparkle3562
Summary: After a Daily Planet journalist is murdered by ISIS, Superman joins Lois Lane in trying to report on and stop the actions of the radical terrorist group.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own "Superman: The Animated Series" or its characters. They are property of Warner Bros and DC Comics.

In loving memory of Margot Kidder (1948-2018)

"Superman vs. ISIS"

By TwilightSparkle3562

Chapter 1

"Rise of a New Evil"

September 11th, 2001: the day our country and our world in general, changed forever. We had come a long since then and all we did was continue to live our lives the way we were meant to live them by. I kept getting myself into tense situations to get the story I needed to get and Clark?

Well, he just kind of did his own thing.

And Superman?

Well, he was always there to protect me when the moment came.

…

However, not even Superman was there to protect Daniel Foley. Danny, as we always called him, was sent by the Daily Planet to report on the developments of a new evil in the middle east.

It wasn't Al-Qaeda and it wasn't even the Taliban.

It was ISIS otherwise known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

13 years after the attacks on New York and Washington, our country was about to be thrust into the world of terror once again when these guys came along and let me tell you, both me and Superman would put our lives on the line when we confronted these guys for their atrocities against mankind.

…

The story really began in the spring of 2014, when I, Clark, Perry and a few others had relocated to Providence, Rhode Island to help operate the Daily Planet's new offices. It was a big change from life in Metropolis, but that is beside the point. Anyways, my usual morning routine was interrupted by a phone call from Perry.

"Hello?" I asked, climbing out of bed clad in nothing but a black slip.

"Lois, it's Clark," answered my partner and fellow journalist, Clark Kent. "Listen, Perry's got some news that we all need to hear. I'm heading in now, so you probably want to do the same?"

Almost immediately, the sounds of Clark's voice made it clear that something wasn't right.

"You sound kind of disturbed, Smallville," I remarked quietly taking notice of the tone in his voice.

"It's about Danny. He's been killed by ISIS."

The news that Danny had been murdered sent a chill up my spine and gave me a fear of unlike anything I had ever experienced before. Sure, I was a courageous and fearless young reporter, but this was on the levels of something I had never experienced.

"Can you make it in 20 minutes?"

"How about 25? I still need to shower and change, Kent. Tell Perry I'll be there as soon as I can."

Hanging up the phone, I showered and dressed myself in my purple blazer and white pleated skirt before I left my apartment and drove over to the Daily Planet's new offices in Downtown Providence, in the same building as the Providence Journal. No sooner did I get into the office did I see everybody rushing into Perry's office.

Without saying another word, I walked into Perry's office where everybody had gathered around his desk.

"I appreciate you all coming in here," he said, slumping down in his desk and looking up at the ceiling. "As many of you have known, Daniel Foley, one of our own, had been assigned to cover the rise of new terrorist activity in the Middle East. He had disappeared from contact about 3 months ago and I learned this morning…he had been killed."

A flurry of back chatter among us then occurred, with all of us trying to comprehend with such horrific natures abound.

"How, Mr. White?' asked a young journalist.

"They beheaded him."

"Who, who told you this?"

"One of my colleagues from NBC News back in New York, Lane," he answered. "I ask you all to pray for him and his family right now. This is a very tough time for all of us, but we must do our jobs as journalists."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"To this end, everyone go to your assignments except for you and Kent, Lois."

There was no doubt in my mind that Perry was going to assign Clark and I to cover the activities of these monsters. Part of me was beginning to fear that not even the martial arts training I did as a young girl was going to prepare for this.

"Now, I'm sure you are aware that we, as a news organization, have a duty to report news on the rise of ISIS. Since the both of you have had the courage to go into these kinds of situations, I'm giving you the opportunity to cover these guys."

"Perry, are you sure about this?" I wondered. "I may be your star reporter and also your most courageous, but not even I can be sure of how dangerous these guys are."

"I'm not asking you to go into the Middle East, Lois," he reassured me. "I'm asking you to be in touch with our affiliates in Europe and monitor ISIS that way. It's the responsibility of you and Kent to tell the world what you see. That's what you have done since day 1 and that is what you will do here. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir," Clark answered meekly as Perry turned to look out the window of his office, overlooking Kennedy Plaza. "But, I'm not certain that even Superman can stop these guys. I mean, he's gone mad in the past."

"And that's all in the past, Kent," Perry sighed as he turned to face us again. "However, I am certain that Superman will find a way to stop these guys eventually. What you need to do is your jobs from a safe distance, because I can assure you, I will not lose another Daily Planet journalist to terrorism."

Both Clark and I walked out of the office feeling very anxious over what transpired. The question now was how to proceed to cover ISIS. However, there was something else going through my mind and it was concerning Superman himself.

"Could Superman truly defeat ISIS?" I wondered as I sat at my desk. "Could he truly defeat such an evil and protect me when the time is there like he's always done? Only time will tell, I guess."

…

Later that day, Clark and I were sitting at a Starbucks over on the east side when a buzzing noise came on my phone.

"Text message, Lois?" Clark asked.

"There's been a shooting at a Jewish museum in Brussels," I answered, realizing of what was about to transpire down the line. "Apparently, it's the Jewish Museum of Belgium and ISIS has claimed responsibility."

"Did they catch the guy?"

"No, he escaped," I replied. "Apparently, he was seen wearing a baseball cap when he opened fire. Four people are dead, Smallville. Two from Israel, one from France and one from Belgium."

"So, what are we going to do?"

"I guess fly out to Brussels and report on what happened."

Just then, my phone buzzed again and it was Perry, telling us that he had his secretary book Clark and me on the next available flight to Brussels which was the next day on British Airways via London/Heathrow from Boston.

"Guess Perry's not wasting any time," Clark remarked as we got up to leave Starbucks and realizing now that our coverage of ISIS and its movements was about to begin…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Heading to Brussels"

On Perry's orders, Clark and I put in a hard day's work at the Daily Planet and once it was over, we were on our way up to Boston for an evening flight across the Atlantic to Brussels to cover the aftermath of the shooting at the Jewish Museum.

"So far, nothing on the guy yet," I heard Clark remark as we rode up in a limousine. "You know these guys, Lois. They will do anything to avoid being captured."

"And you know that guys like this bozo will go to extremes because they believe that violence will solve anything," I retorted, snatching the phone from Clark. "I'm telling you, Smallville, being the daughter of a military general has made me open up my eyes to how these clowns operate and function. And what's more, there is no denying the fact that what we are doing is nothing short of dangerous."

"Then, why did you take it if you know its going to be dangerous? You know very well, Lois, that your knack for danger is going to get you in trouble."

Of course, Clark had no idea that I had a guardian angel in the form of an alien clad in blue and red. Then again, there has always been that suspicion that there was more to Clark Kent than met the eye.

"How many times have I gotten into trouble only for Superman to save me?" I asked Clark. "You've yet to see Superman do what he does best, Clark, which is being there for me."

Clark said nothing in response, but instead, let out a deep sigh as he took his phone back.

"It's not just you, Lois. Superman has to be there for everybody because that's how he is and I know that for a fact."

"If you say so," I scoffed as we entered the Ted Williams Tunnel and arrived at Logan Airport's Terminal E.

After checking in at the British Airways ticket counter, Clark and I found ourselves waiting to board British Airways Flight 212 to London/Heathrow, scheduled to depart at 7:15pm. Even after arriving at the gate, both of us knew that security was very tight, considering the fact that the United States had always been a target of terrorists' goals and warped dreams. While we waited to board, I started to scan amongst the passengers. Some of them were of middle eastern decent.

"Lois, what is it?" Clark wondered as I rose to my feet. "Why are you looking at those people?"

"Because they seem suspicious to me," I answered, despite the fact that they were all completely harmless.

"Sit down," whispered Clark, grabbing my hand to pull me back. "Don't bother them, Lois. You see, this is why Muslim people are treated so badly nowadays. Everyone is thinking of them as evil."

"Clark, I'm not saying that all Muslims are evil," I said, sitting back down. "I was just going to ask them how they felt about being viewed as evil."

"Save it for when we get to Brussels."

Not wanting to have me cause a disturbance, Clark kept me seated until it was time to board the Boeing 747. Seated in coach class, we settled in for the overnight flight to London, which took off right on schedule into the New England night.

The following morning, we landed at London/Heathrow just before 7:00am and after a brief security and passport check, we boarded British Airways Flight 392 to Brussels departing at 8:25am. Taking off a little after 8:30am local time, the Airbus A319 flew across the English Channel and landed in Brussels, Belgium one hour later.

Once we went through immigration and customs, we checked into a Crowne Plaza hotel near Brussels Airport before we took a taxi to the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Downtown Brussels, which was under heavy guard.

"Excuse me!" I called out to a Belgian policeman. "Lois Lane, Daily Planet."

"Sorry, madame," the policeman answered. "The museum is closed until further notice."

"We just have a few questions to ask whoever was involved in the shooting. Were there any people wounded in the shooting?"

"Why do you ask me?" asked the policeman.

"Because we are journalists and we are here to do a job, that's why."

"And I have a job to do as well, madame," the policeman snapped in a snarky tone. "To keep the museum closed until the owners feel it's all right to open it again."

Clearly there was going to be no reasoning with this guy and I felt something needed to be done.

"Is there anyone higher than you that we can speak to?"

"The prime minster is holding a press conference later today, why don't you see him then? Now, go away."

Disgusted by this cop's behavior, Clark and I left the museum. However, the desire to start searching for the truth was far too great.

"Lois, what are you doing?" Clark wondered as I began to advance towards the back door of the museum.

"I'm not going to wait for the prime minister to speak," I whispered. "I have a job to do and I'm going to do it, Smallville. If you want to attend the press conference, be my guest."

"All right," Clark whispered back. "But, don't come crying to me when you end up in a Belgian prison."

"Ha, very funny."

With Clark watching, I managed to force the back door open and proceeded to go into the museum. So many articles of Jewish history sat silent and solitary with no people to view them expect for me. With only the sounds of my high heels filling the quiet air, I proceeded to sneak around the museum searching for any sign of how a young man could carry out such an act of violence. As I walked around, I looked down and saw a bright red stain on the floor, clearly from someone who had been murdered in this rampage.

"Damn it," I whispered, reaching into my purse and pulling out my phone to take a picture of the stained floor. "It makes you wonder just what these people were probably thinking in their final moments."

I then proceeded to take several more pictures of the carnage, taking note of several more blood stained areas where the dead had fallen.

"Damn these monsters," I muttered as I continued my snooping around the closed museum. "Damn them all to hell."

…

Later, I left the museum and made my way over to the press conference. However, in his typical behavior, Clark was nowhere to be found. But, little did I know that Superman was already on his way to find the person responsible and it wasn't in Belgium he was going to, he was going to a train station in Marseilles, France…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Stopping Mehedi"

Faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive, Superman flew towards France with the intention of capturing the person responsible for killing four innocent people in Brussels.

"He's got to be around here somewhere," the man of steel thought to himself, using his x ray vision to identify the person responsible. "The sooner he gets off the streets, the safer everyone will be."

Finally, he came across a pair of French police officers who were travelling down a countryside road outside of Marseilles. Flying down to them, Superman caught the attention of the two police officers and they pulled over.

"Superman," one of them cried, getting out of the car. "What are you doing here?"

"Searching for the man who carried out those shootings in Belgium," he answered. "I have every reason to believe that he has retreated to here. Do you have any idea where he could be?"

"Not that we are aware of, monsieur. Although there is a great Muslim population here in this part of France. As a matter of fact, we have been monitoring a few people that have been acting suspiciously."

"What people?"

"A few people," remarked the junior policeman. "Our station was informed of a person of interest who had talked about carrying out an Islamic extremist attack. If you want prove, we have the notice in our car."

"Show me," said Superman in a blunt voice and the officers returned to their car and pulled out a document that had come from the French government.

Superman carefully read the document and came across a series of names that had been listed towards the end of the document, about four names and one of them was marked with a star beside it.

"Why is there a star next to the name, Mehdi Nemmouche?" wondered Superman, handing the document back to the officers. "Is he of importance?"

"Out of all the names listed, he was the one who drew the most attention, Superman. In fact, he hasn't been seen or heard of around here in a few days."

"Where is the area with the most Muslims?"

This caused the two officers to become baffled at Superman's request.

"Pardon, monsieur? Its about 10 miles from here, but…"

Before the officer could finish, Superman immediately darted from the scene and headed for a part of Marseilles that was entirely populated by Muslims. Upon landing in the center of the area, Superman walked around and captured the attention of the Muslim population, who were amazed at his presence.

"Where is Mehdi Nemmouche?" he asked in a commanding voice. "He is wanted by the French government for murder."

"Mehdi?" remarked an older Muslim man, walking over to Superman. "You found him? Where is he?"

"I haven't found him. I'm aiding the French authorities in looking for him right now. Is he here?"

"No," answered the man, looking back towards his fellow Muslims. "Everyone has been worried sick about him for the past few months. Ever since he went to Syria and…"

"Syria?" asked Superman. "What about it?"

"That's where ISIS is based out of," said a French Muslim woman. "They are a group bent on making the entire world bow to them, including us even though we already believe in the prophet Muhammad."

"Please, you've got to find Mehdi and bring him home to us," replied the older man. "Nothing would make me happier than seeing my son again."

Superman was amazed in getting part of the truth from this man and he had no idea in any way that this man was Mehdi's father. Still, he had to remember that if Mehdi was found, he would be arrested and charged with terrorism by the French government. He wouldn't come back home.

"I will do my best," promised Superman, looking down at the father of the Brussels terror suspect. "However, I must warn you that if your son is found…"

"…that he will be arrested by the French and charged with terrorism? I am aware of that. As long as I get to see him again…"

"You will see him again," reassured Superman. "But, I won't know who he is unless I have a picture of what he looks like."

"I have a picture of him," said another Muslim man, handing Superman a picture of Mehdi. "This was taken of him before he left for Syria."

Superman studied the picture closely and then took to the air as the rest of the Muslims watched him fly off into the French skies. Carefully looking down at the streets below, Superman scanned for anyone who had matched with the picture he held in his hands.

…

Finally, he suddenly felt a vibration and realized that the vibration came from his northwest, towards the southern French coastline. Taking note of the vibration, Superman flew towards the source of it which was at a train station called Marseille-Saint Charles. Looking around, Superman tried to identify the person in the picture, but to no avail. Finally, he made his way over towards a platform that marked the spot for southern bound trains.

"Something tells me that he is here," Superman thought to himself, trying to scan amongst the commuters. "Finally, he noticed the vibrations growing more and more and soon, they came towards the attention of a young Muslim man wearing a baseball cap. Then, Superman took notice of a pair of French policemen also coming towards him. The figure turned and realizing that the cops were on him, began to turn and run away, knocking people over as he did.

"It's him!" Superman cried and jumped into the air to try and stop the young man from fleeing. The two French police officers split and soon, other officers came into view, trying to stop the figure from getting away.

But, the figure was not going to allow himself to get captured so easily. In an attempt to defend himself, he knocked over a food cart to stop some officers from chasing him and that was when Superman realized he needed to act fast. Flying towards the figure, Superman attempted to grab the suspect by the scruff of his shirt, but he was unable to. Then, the figure reached into his jacket and pulled out a small handgun, trying to shoot at Superman.

But, it was no use and the young man gasped when he realized whom he was dealing with.

"Police! Get on the ground!" barked one of the police officers and the figure did as he was told and Superman looked at the picture to confirm if this was the one called Mehdi.

"Are you Mehdi?" he asked, glaring down at him. The figure didn't reply and merely just nodded his head to confirm to Superman it was him. Now that he had confirmation, Superman backed away and allowed the French police to take him into custody.

…

Back in Brussels, I had spent the past few hours attending the Prime Minister's conference and suddenly, a member of the Belgian security services came forward and whispered in the Prime Minister's ear.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, addressing me and all the other reporters in the room. "I'm happy to report to you that perpetrator of this savage act has been captured by Superman and the French Authorities."

Of course, while I was happy that this had been taking care of, I still couldn't believe that Clark wasn't here to witness this. Then again, that was his character, I guess. Nevertheless, Belgium could sleep safely tonight at least for one night…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"ISIS and Pleasure Island"

It wasn't until later that night after the press conference that Clark and I saw each other again.

"How was the press conference?" he asked as he walked into our hotel room. "Sorry I wasn't there. But, you know how it is. Superman caught the person responsible for the shooting."

"I'm aware of that, Smallville," I sighed, looking over at Kent with a gaze. "The prime minster made the announcement today. Clearly you've learned more about the person responsible?"

"Yes, Superman told me that he had visited an area of Marseilles that had a large Muslim population and he had been away from there for a lengthy period of time."

"Superman told you?"

"He did Lois."

"Did he tell you anything about the guy responsible?"

"That he was a young man in his late 20's that was radicalized by ISIS and had gone to Syria to train in the ways of ISIS."

As Clark spoke, I couldn't help but wonder and think back to that one Disney movie I saw as a kid. _Pinocchio_ , was it? There was something about it that made me think that this group known as ISIS had the same intentions as the characters in that movie. Characters like that fox and his dopey cat sidekick, Honest Jim or whatever his name is?

"Where is he now?" I asked as Clark went into the bathroom to change clothes.

"Who?"

"Duh! The guy who committed the shooting."

"Oh, him?" Clark replied from inside the bathroom. "He's being held in custody and there is a good chance he could end up being extradited to Belgium."

"Seems appropriate, given the circumstance of his crimes, Smallville. Actually, Clark, have you ever seen a movie from the 1940's called _Pinocchio_?"

"That Disney movie with the transforming donkeys?" Clark remarked as he exited the bathroom. "Scared me as a kid. Why do you ask?"

"Because I can't help but think back to that sequence in the movie, the one involving Pleasure Island with that big fat cockney guy."

"The Coachman? Yeah, he was nothing but trouble, Lois. What's worse is he got away with his crimes. He broke a lot of families in that movie."

"And that's what I feel ISIS is like, Clark," I said, going on my laptop and onto the Disney Wikipedia website. "They are just like the coachman, a group of people trying to brainwash people into believing that joining ISIS will help them achieve their goals of life. It won't, Smallville, not in the slightest bit. All these guys care about is killing people until the whole world believes in their warped ideology."

Going onto the website, I looked up the Coachman's profile and found that he was one of Disney's most sinister and dangerous villains. Then, the thoughts of Hitler, Bin Laden and Kim Jong IL came to the forefront. If they were Disney villains, they would be all right up there with this guy.

"And I assume that Syria is basically Pleasure Island," Clark remarked.

"Yes, that's what I believe. ISIS is trying to reach out to stupid people and convince them to come to Syria to live out their dreams of being warp minded. And it's just like the Coachman said, they never come back as boys. However, in this case, those who join ISIS never come back at all."

The more I thought about this, the more I began to think of the desperation of the situation. These guys needed to be stopped and fast for the sake of the youth of our world.

…

Later that night, while Clark slept, I stayed up to write my article covering the bombings and the press conference. But, I felt like I needed to be writing something else, something about how ISIS is compared to Pleasure Island in Walt Disney's second animated feature film. The reporter in me was probably thinking of going into Syria and seeing this first hand, but the humanity in me was probably saying to me:

"Lois, don't be stupid. If you go to Syria, you never come home at all."

I needed to consider writing an article about what I had thought about and fast. But, I needed to get this done first.

…

The next morning, after not getting a good night's sleep, I got up and got ready to head back to the United States before another day of living the life of a journalist.

"Lois!" Clark called from outside the bathroom. "I'll meet you downstairs for breakfast."

"Got it!" I called back and a little while later, dressed in a red jacket and black pleated skirt, I made my way down for breakfast.

"You seem exhausted," Clark said as I tried to take a sip of morning coffee. "I take you didn't sleep well?"

"Ya think, Kent?" I yawned, reaching down to scratch my right leg. "I don't know, guess I couldn't stop thinking about how ISIS is compared to Pleasure Island. Do you think that everybody's going to believe me when I write about it?"

"You are Lois Lane. I'm sure they'll believe you in any way possible."

"Yeah, Danny tried to make the public believe and ended up losing his head because of it. Well, I for one don't intend to lose my head."

"But, you end up losing sleep because of it, Lois. Trust me, you have to take care of yourself before do anything else."

"That's not how I operate, Smallville. The public needs to know how these guys operate and that person who will expose them is me. But, if you think I am just going to go to Pleasure Island, that's not what I am intending to do. Trust me, I know better."

As I spoke, Clark reached into his suit jacket and pulled out his phone, intending to show me something.

"You don't have to go to Syria, Lois," he said, handing me his phone that was shown to be on a Twitter page. "For the past few days, I've been following ISIS's twitter page. Apparently, thanks to the age of social media, they are reaching out to more troubled people than ever."

"Can't Twitter do something about it? I mean, if you shut down the ISIS page, then they won't reach out to as many people."

"Seems to me like you'll need to pay a visit to Twitter headquarters and try to convince these guys to shut down ISIS. And while you're at it, maybe Facebook and a few others."

"Remind me to schedule a visit in the next week or two, Smallville," I said, yawning again. "Right now, let's just focus on getting home."

Checking out of the Crowne Plaza Brussels Airport, we took the shuttle to Brussels Airport and boarded British Airways Flight 391 to London/Heathrow, an Airbus A319, which took off at 9:45am and landed an hour later at 9:59am. 1 hour and 20 minutes later, we boarded British Airways Flight 213 to Boston, MA, a Boeing 747, which took off at 11:25am and landed at 1:45pm.

Soon, we were back in Providence, RI and our respective apartments decompressing after a long flight across the Atlantic. However, I wasn't decompressing. In fact, I was already scanning the web for any more web pages that ISIS had and there were quite a few of them.

"How could there be so many web pages?" I thought to myself. "Someone must be financing them, but who?"

It didn't take long to find out just who exactly was financing them and it was someone that both Clark and I knew very well…


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Lex Luthor, Helping ISIS?"

When I went into the Daily Planet the morning after returning from Belgium, there was no doubt in my mind that ISIS's social media escapades were being financed by someone whom Clark and I have had a long history with as well as Superman.

"Lois, how can you be sure that Lex Luthor is helping to finance ISIS?" Clark wondered as I wrote up my article from Belgium on my work laptop. "I mean, if he was, then he would be in jail right now."

"Don't you see, Smallville?" I said. "We both know how Lex is always there to make a quick buck. How else do you think ISIS has gotten so many social media accounts and web pages? We know how rich Lex is, but we also know how devious he can be."

"He might also have contacts within Twitter and Facebook itself," suggested Clark. "But, they won't divulge corporate information without a subpoena from the courts."

"Either way, I feel Lex is playing a part in all of this and I intend to find out the truth, Kent," I said and immediately began looking at flights to San Francisco as well as trains to New York.

"What happens if he is really trying to help ISIS? He could be charged with treason against the United States."

"Yeah, and then hire the best lawyers to get him out of prison time," I scoffed. "I mean, if he ends up on trial, we're looking at the next OJ Simpson here and we know how much of a circus that was."

The next OJ Simpson starring Lex Luthor? That was something that I wasn't going to be expecting, but being Lex's former lover, I wasn't taking any chances in the matter. Lex was someone who would do anything to get money in his pocket and I was going to get to the bottom of the situation.

Later that day, I proceeded to try and reach out to some informats at Lexcorp, but no one was more than willing to answer. Then, I began to get another thought that Lex had global connections and since ISIS was going global, there was no doubt that Lex would do the same thing.

"Hmm, Lex has got to have some kind of Global connections in some way," I thought to myself. "Otherwise, how could he be the man he was today?"

Then, I proceeded to look some information on any foreign members of both Lexcopr and ISIS and let me tell you, when I saw the numbers, my mouth just dropped in shock and surprise. Most of those numbers came from Tunisia and Russia with 6,000 to 7,000 coming from Tunisia alone.

"Lex, you sick bastard," I gasped, proceeding to scroll down the list of foreign fighters for ISIS and in addition to Tunisia and Russia, the numbers also included 2,500 from Saudi Arabia; 2,100 from Turkey; 2,000 from Jordan; 1,800 from France and 1,500 from the United Kingdom. "Are you honestly sending people to their deaths for the sake of making yourself look good?"

Knowing that I needed to have this evidence, I printed out several pages containing every single number of these fighters and then proceeded to Perry's office to tell him of what I had discovered.

"Lois, how can you be sure that Lexcorp has a part in this?" he remarked, studying the printed information. "I mean, I know that Lex is a jerk, but…"

"He's got enormous stakes in the Middle East, chief," I protested, pointing to the country with the most fighters. "6,000 to 7,000 people from Tunisia alone. One of the newest Lexcorp locations was in Tunisia and I have a feeling that Lex had made a deal with ISIS to reach out to potential recruits."

"Lois, you're gonna have to prove it," Perry advised. "Because the general public isn't going to believe that one of the richest men in the world is helping out a terrorist organization. But, you are going to have to do it from a safe distance. Tunisia has diplomatic missions in this country, so you are going to have to go to one of them."

It was apparent that Perry was going to stick to his word about not sending me to the middle east and I was okay with that. Tunisia had an embassy in Washington, DC, so I would add that to the list of places I needed to visit.

…

Later that afternoon, I finished up my article on the Belgian Prime Minister's conference and made my flights to San Francisco from Boston for the end of the week. Then came the matter of trying to reach out to Lex himself.

"Look, do you know who I am?" I demanded as I spoke to one of Lex's secretaries on the phone. "I just happen to be Lois Lane of the Daily Planet and a former girlfriend of Lex's who wishes to speak with him."

"Sure, sure," the secretary remarked sarcastically on the other line. "Mr. Luthor doesn't want to be bothered by any women claiming to be his girlfriend. Good day."

"Listen, if you don't…"

Before I could finish my rant, the secretary rudely hung up on me and all I could do was let out a disgusted sigh of frustration. Exhausted, I got up and proceeded to head home to my apartment, still believing that Lex needed to be found out about his actions and possibly punished for them.

"Yeah, I can't get in touch with him," I complained to Clark over the phone after a warm shower. "Seems to me like he is trying to hide his actions and I want him to answer for them."

"He isn't going to be opening up that easily, Lois," Clark advised. "Perhaps Superman could get him to open up. He is your boyfriend, isn't he?"

This gave me an idea. Superman would work wonders in getting Lex to open up about his business practices with ISIS. If I wasn't going to do it, then Superman would.

"You know Clark, you're right," I chuckled. "I think Superman could do wonders with trying to get that snake in the grass to open up about his businesses with ISIS. This isn't about business, Smallville, it's about saving lives and saving young tormented people from throwing their lives away."

With those words, we hung up and I proceeded to think of ways to try and get Superman to help expose Lex Luthor's involvement with ISIS. Perhaps, just perhaps, this could be Lex's act that gets him ousted from Lexcorp and perhaps, even shut Lexcorp down for good. Who knows? Only time would tell…


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Terror for Cold Hard Cash"

If there was one thing that Lex Luthor was known for other than making a quick buck, it was making beneficial business deals with foreign groups and countries. The events in Belgium was a satisfaction to him and he was now waiting for the next strike.

"Mr. Luthor?" asked one of the secretaries as she stepped into his office in Metropolis. "Your client from ISIS is here."

"Send him in," he said and the secretary did as she was told. A few moments later, an Arab man dressed in a western business suit with a long black beard walked into the office. Luthor smiled as he walked in.

"Allah be praised, Mr. Luthor," he chuckled as the two men shook hands. "The attack on Israel's museum in Brussels was clearly a good start. But, if we are to achieve in our goals of spreading our control of world domination, it is apparent that we need to form a formal alliance with each other."

"Abdul, it's a wonder why you didn't bring this up to me in the first place," remarked Lex, walking over to pour himself and Abdul a glass of wine. "It was going to take place eventually, but we needed to have this attack on the Jewish museum be a test. Mehdi was successful in carrying out his mission of terror, killing 4 people. And it all came with the promise of a job at Lexcorp which he would never have gotten. That's the issue with these troubled minds, they are always more gullible than you think."

"Exactly, our fighters will do anything to get away from their normal, confining lives. That is where we connect with one another. The opening of Lexcorp's new office in Tunisia clearly has given both of us the advantage we need to grow our respective businesses, Abdul."

At that moment, Lex walked over to his desk and pulled out a map of the world. On the map, he had different colored flags on various countries.

"In your case, of course, ISIS isn't a business but a country trying to grow and develop through violence and terror. Which is something that I hope to benefit from. As we speak, my friend, Lexcorp is already interviewing potential candidates in and around the Tunis area. Most of them are just people who probably want a better life that only you can give."

"We also have many of fighters from Russia as well. Your Russian offices in Moscow have so far recruited 200 fighters in one month alone."

As Abdul spoke, Lex began to think of something that he had always been wanting to do for a very long time.

"Yes, we have managed to have some success with Russia," he chuckled, getting up and walking over to his desk. "But, there is something else that I have been meaning to ask of you. You see, I've a couple of…how shall I say it? Pest control problems. Have you and your people ever heard of someone called…Superman?"

"Superman?"

"Some alien dressed in blue that I have had confrontations with for quite some time. Your organization will do anything for money, Abdul. So, I have a proposition for you. Superman will show himself whenever some major happens, such as what happened in Brussels. If your organization manages to kill Superman, I will pay you $10 million that will go towards your ultimate goals of world domination."

Abdul felt a sense of delight from this deal. He knew that Lex Luthor was a man who could do a good business.

"And there is another thorn in my side," he continued, pulling a picture of me out of his suit pocket and showing it to Abdul. "A woman, someone who used to date me and is now out to destroy me with her stories. I don't care how you do it, Abdul. Just make sure that Lois Lane is also out of my life for good as well. If you kill her, I will pay you an extra $10 million dollars."

The evil terrorist representative laughed evilly as he accepted the challenge made by this crazy madman of a former lover of mine.

…

Meanwhile, I was spending most of my latest work day trying to get in touch with trying to set up an appointment with both Twitter and Facebook over them having pages for ISIS.

"Any luck with Twitter or Facebook?" Clark asked as he walked by my desk.

"Nothing," I sighed, throwing the receiver down in frustration. "These people just don't want to be opening up about their involvements with ISIS. Free speech shouldn't be mixed with someone who is using social media to recruit killers."

"Perhaps Superman could…"

"What does Superman know about social media, Smallville? All he does is save people, not rot his brain in front of a computer screen like everybody I know. And while we're talking about this, ISIS is probably making their next move and somehow, Lex Luthor is helping them. My guess is that he wants to get rid of Superman."

As I spoke, I could tell that Clark was beginning to grow uncomfortable at this. Something about it made me feel like he was going to be ISIS' next victim.

"Um, are you sure about that, Lois?" he asked nervously straightening out his necktie.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I mean, how else do you think Superman has always been a target for assassination? Luthor has been after him for years and if he can't do it himself, he's going to get someone else to do it."

But, I also had the suspicion that Superman wasn't going to be the only target that Luthor was having ISIS go after.

"Um, Lois?" Clark asked. "You okay?"

"Smallville," I replied, quietly looking up at the ceiling of the Planet. "I just realized something else. What if Lex is having ISIS also go after me and Superman? What if what happened to Danny was just a practice run for ISIS? I mean, think about it for a second. Superman and I have been a thorn in Lex's side for a long time and he wants to finish us off as violently and as painful as possible. Will he do it himself? No, because he knows he can't do it alone. So, what does he do? He reaches out to someone else to do the job for him."

"Come to think of it and I'm being brutally honest, I think Lex does have it in for you. He's not going to rest until both you and Superman are out of his way."

It was this moment I began to realize that everything I had done, all of my life living with a colonel for a father was all meaning for nothing. ISIS was nothing like any of the enemies I had covered for the Daily Planet in the past in any way, shape or form.

They weren't like any of Superman's enemies and all they cared about was not about money, but killing people, innocent people and I was going to be one of them along with Superman…


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Day trip to San Francisco, Part 1"

The thoughts of Lex associating with ISIS continued to spread through my mind like wildfire and as the next few days past, the threat against my life continued to grow. Nevertheless, I had a job to do and that was to expose ISIS' social media accounts for the entire world to see. One morning, I was on my way up to Logan Airport for an early morning transcontinental flight to San Francisco where I would be visiting both Twitter and Facebook's respective headquarters in one day. After checking in and going through security, I went about trying to call my dad, Colonel Sam Lane to tell him about the threats against me and Superman.

"I can't really blame you for being worried, Lois," he told me on the phone. "As your father, it's always my job to worry for your well being, no matter how old you get."

"Mom said the same thing. But, when you have your life threatened by a terrorist organization, its more than likely that you would be worrying about me. It seems like everything I have ever done, all the martial arts training I did as a kid with Master Poo, the self-defense moves you taught me, my whole career as a journalist for that matter don't seem to do anything to protect me."

"You're forgetting your boyfriend," my dad playfully remarked.

"Who?"

"Superman."

Part of me wanted to laugh at this remark, but I couldn't.

"But, all joking aside Lois. If you feel that this is too dangerous of an assignment, then say something to Perry. There are plenty of stories you can cover from the safety of your own country."

"Dad," I sighed, realizing that this was going against everything that I have done as a self-respected journalist. "You know I can't do that so easily. Even if I wanted to say something to Perry about me taking these dangerous assignments, I'll probably get assigned them anyway. Sometimes, even though its not really safe for me, we got to do things we don't want to do."

"If you say so, Lois," my dad said nervously. "But, if you feel uncomfortable about doing the coverage on ISIS, then I will personally go to Mr. White's office and tell him personally to send someone else in."

Like I said, it was easier said than done. Of course, my father was trying to protect me the same way he tried to protect this country as a colonel. After we said our goodbyes, I boarded United Airlines Flight 433 to San Francisco, CA departing at 6:04am. At 9:41am, the Boeing 757 landed at SFO and soon, I was in a Lyft heading to Twitter headquarters.

"Lois Lane, Daily Planet," I said to the secretary as I showed her my press badge. "I have a few questions to ask your CEO, Jack Dorsey."

"Do you have an appointment with him?" asked the secretary.

"I tried to get in touch with you about setting up an appointment, but we were unsuccessful. If Mr. Dorsey has any time…"

"Jack has several meetings today, so you'll have to come back another time, Miss Lane, or we can set up an appointment…"

But I was having none of this, I had a job to do and I was going to do this job.

"I wish to see him now," I said in an intimidating voice.

"What's going on here?" a smartly dressed man said as he walked over to the desk. "May I help you, miss?"

"Um, Jack," the secretary stammered. "This is Lois Lane, she wishes to speak with you about something."

"Lois Lane?" he asked in a casual voice. "The same Lois Lane that Superman always saves?"

"Afraid so, Mr. Dorsey," I answered in a professional manner. "I've a few questions to ask you about your company loaning…"

However, before I could finish my sentence, he silenced me and led me away from the secretary. A few moments later, we walked into his office.

"You're here about ISIS, aren't you?" he asked, gesturing me to sit down in front of him. "This is about us letting them have a Twitter account, is that it?"

"Yes."

"Well, first of all, my condolences to everyone at the Daily Planet about your fellow reporter. Second of all, I have been trying for some time to get my superior to allow us to terminate their account."

"Then, why don't you say something?"

"We have a policy to live by, Miss Lane," he explained. "And that policy is that our doors are open to everyone from all walks of life. Ever since we allowed ISIS to have an account with us, I've felt that something must be done, but Omid won't listen to me."

"And Omid is…?"

"The executive chairman, Miss Lane. He doesn't want us to suffer any retribution from ISIS if we take down their twitter page."

"So what if there is retribution?" I remarked, writing down whatever notes I could write. "Doesn't the government protect you? I mean, your executive chairman should think about the lives that are being warped by these guys."

Then, a thought crossed my mind.

"Mr. Dorsey," I asked, choosing my words carefully. "Is there any chance…?"

"Absolutely not," Jack shot back. "If you think my boss supports these guys, you're dead wrong! All he cares about is growing our Twitter empire, not hurting other innocent people. If these people carry out attacks, we are not liable for any damages. How dare you assume such an accusation?"

"Look, I'm not accusing anybody, I'm just doing my job here."

"Yeah, right," he scoffed, going up to the door and opening it. "Get out of my office."

"But…"

"Now or I call security."

Shocked and disgusted, I left the office. I wasn't going to accuse the Executive Chairman of being a supporter of these monsters. But, some people are just very touchy, I suppose.

Just like that, my meeting at Twitter was over and now it was onto Facebook for a meeting with its leader, Mark Zuckerberg. But, I instead stopped at a Starbucks to process my brief and short interview.

"He thought that I was accusing the Executive Chairman of being an ISIS supporter," I said to Clark on the phone. "And he just cut off the interview right then and there."

"The nerve of some of these people," Clark replied from his office back at the Daily Planet. "I'm telling you, Lois, I can understand the frustration. But, you have to understand that Muslim people are being extremely touchy around others. Not every Muslim is considered evil…"

"I'm not saying that Muslims are evil, Kent!" I cried into the phone. "It's just that there are some who truly abuse their faith by joining these guys! ISIS isn't achieving anything by carrying out these attacks and murders and it's our job to expose them!"

Clark said nothing at this and soon, our conversation came to an end. I wasn't being prejudicial against Muslims, that's not who I am. My job is to simply exploit them for who they were, nothing more.

…

But, my visit with Facebook was ahead of me and all I could do was hope for a much better visit with them…


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Day Trip to San Francisco, Part 2"

With the bitter taste of my visit with Twitter still in my mouth, I made my way over towards Facebook headquarters in the southern San Francisco bay. Upon entering, I was half expecting the same reception I got from Twitter's secretary, however that was a different story.

"May I help you, Miss?" an older looking secretary asked me.

"I'm Lois Lane, Daily Planet. Is Mr. Zuckerberg available to talk?"

"Well, it's funny you ask that, Miss Lane because he actually was thinking of contacting you. Apparently, he has some things he wants to say about what has been going on in the news."

At that moment, a young man in his late 20's walked over to me and I knew right there that it was Mark Zuckerberg himself. From the smile on his face, I knew he had been expecting me to arrive for some time.

"Lois Lane?" he asked.

"You're looking at her," I answered, showing him my press badge.

"Follow me."

Glad that I had been given a much better reception here than at twitter, I followed Mr. Zuckerberg up to his office, which was in an area overlooking the southern San Francisco bay.

"First of, I wanted to tell you how sorry I am for the loss of your colleague," he began, handing me a glass of water. "Secondly, I want you to know that Facebook fully supports any actions we are requested to take."

"You should be telling the government that," I remarked. "They could use the reassurance you guys are trying to offer them. Now, you said that you have something you want to say to me."

"Well, any reporter for that matter. You see, ever since we learned of what happened in Brussels, we've been considering on shutting down ISIS' Facebook account. These guys are using their Facebook to try and recruit followers to join their ranks. Well, I for one, hold zero tolerance that they are allowed to carry out these atrocities. But, I fear that if we shut down their page, they will commit retribution against us."

"My advice to you is to increase security around the complex," I suggested. "Now, ever since the attack in Brussels, have you been monitoring anyone who looked like they could join ISIS?"

"Not that I know of, Miss Lane," he replied. "Although there has been a few people whom we believe should be confronted. Did you know that about 50 from the United States have joined ISIS through their Facebook page alone? That to me is sickening. Like I said, I want to shut them down, but fear the consequences."

I could tell from Mark's face that he was extremely worried for his safety and I really couldn't blame him at all. He had wife, he had a child and there were probably dozens of employees who shared the same situation as himself.

"Look, Mark, you can't let yourself be pushed around by these guys. In reality, they are nothing more than rats seeking to make the lives of others completely miserable. But, you can't let the fear win."

"You probably say that because Superman is always there for you," he said. "He won't be there for anyone else."

"Now, that's probably not true," I replied. "Superman will be there for anyone, Mr. Zuckerberg, even this company you created. That's what he is there for, to be there for everybody. So, go ahead, shut down ISIS' Facebook page and if they retaliate, Superman will come for you."

Although he wasn't fully reassured, Mark agreed to my suggestion and for the rest of the time, he continued to divulge into ISIS's actions via Facebook.

…

When the meeting came to an end, it was time for me to head back to SFO for my return flight to Boston. After checking in and going through security, I called Clark again to tell him about the interview I had with Mark Zuckerberg.

"Seems to me like you had a better visit," he said. "And it also seems to me like he is more than willing to be open about his company's involvement with ISIS.

"He told me that 50 people from this country alone had joined ISIS through Facebook."

"It's funny you mention that, Lois. Apparently, someone in Chicago was arrested for trying to board a plane to Turkey and then head into Syria on foot."

"Was it a kid?"

"Yes, a teenager. I'm telling you, Lois, Superman is going to have his hands full with trying to keep these people away from joining ISIS."

"That he will, Smallville, that he will. Talk in the morning."

Hanging up, I continue to reflect on my day trip to San Francisco and soon boarded United Airlines Flight 1413 to Boston, MA departing at 8:40pm. Just after 5:00am, the Boeing 757 landed and soon, I was back home at my apartment.

…

Meanwhile, at the same time I was leaving San Francisco, Lex Luthor was at Kennedy Airport in New York boarding a Turkish Airlines Flight to Istanbul. As his flight was boarding, he made a last minute phone call to his ISIS contact.

"Mr. Luthor," said Abdul over the phone. "The woman you call Lois Lane has arrived back in Boston, what do you wish for me to do?"

"Keep watch over her, Abdul," he ordered. "I'm flying out to Tunis to visit my new offices out there, so I can reach out to anyone who would be willing to finish this thorn in my side off for good. And while you're at it, see if you can recruit anyone to hunt down Superman as well. Nothing would satisfy more than to finish these two pests off once and for all."

"Very well, Mr. Luthor. Allah be with you."

With that, Luthor hung up the phone and soon, his Turkish Airlines flight lifted from JFK Airport and into the night.

…

Meanwhile, I was about to move on to the next item on my list which was to head down to the Tunisian embassy in Washington and talk to the Tunisian Ambassador to the United States…


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Luthor's Tunisian Playground"

Following a long flight across the Atlantic, that greedy ex-boyfriend of mine landed in Turkey and after a brief visit at one of his plants in Istanbul, he was soon on his way to Tunis and from there, it was down to business. Then again, Lex's business mindset was making the lives of other miserable, especially my own and Superman's.

"They're waiting for you, Mr. Luthor," said a Lexcorp employee as he walked into his building.

"How many in attendance?"

"About 20, sir."

"Good," he chuckled evilly and walked into one of the many conference rooms of his new building. The entire room fell silent upon his entrance. "Well, aren't you going to welcome me? Your friend, Lex Luthor? The man who helps you pay your bills?"

"Sorry, Mr. Luthor," replied a board member. "We just were intimidated by your…"

"Don't bother, Jaffer, I'm not intimidating unless I have to be. Now, there is a reason why I called you all here this morning."

Immediately, everyone at the table began to take notice.

"As you know, we all here have two goals in mind: to make Lexcorp the greatest company ever built and to come up with a way to rid the world of Superman. Have any new hires showed interest in joining the ranks of ISIS?"

"About 30 over the past few days, Mr. Luthor," remarked another board member. "Some of whom have already been sent to Syria for training."

"Paid training?"

"Yes, Mr. Luthor."

"Good, because its very hard to find good help and pay them good money to carry out the will of the company. Now, the events in Belgium have been considered in my view, a very successful test run for what we need to do. Lexcorp shares the goal of ISIS in making the world a better place and the only way to do that is to rid of anyone who doesn't fit with the perfect world Lexcorp is trying to create."

And Lex slid a document to the center of the table getting the attention of all the board members. On the document were two pictures: one of Superman and one of me.

"Who is the girl in the document?" asked yet another board member.

"Someone who has been a constant thorn in my side for many years, Mustafa," he answered, sitting back in his chair. "This is Lois Lane, the Daily Planet's star reporter and my ex-girlfriend."

Many of the board members were surprised to hear this, but then again, anyone who has had encounters with me knows just how much of a pain in the rear I really was.

"She looks beautiful," whispered a young board member only to be met with a glare from Lex, causing him to jump back in shock. "Um, excuse me, Mr. Luthor, I'm sorry."

"Lois Lane is a pest, Jamil," he snapped. "Pests aren't beautiful, they're just that, pests! There is nothing beautiful about a pest especially if that pest is named Lois Lane!"

Jamil meekly obeyed Luthor's intimidating command upon hearing this.

"Now, does anyone wish to make any more compliments about this pest?" Luthor asked the rest of the board, who didn't respond for fear of retribution. "Good, now don't say anything more unless you wish to be fired."

And no one did.

"Now, back to the business at hand. We need to have ISIS carry out another attack over the next few months and I feel like it should be done in North America to give a sense of fear to Superman and Lois that they are just as vulnerable as anyone."

"Mr. Luthor, you do know that it is very difficult to carry out an attack in the United States," remarked a board member. "Why not perhaps try Canada?"

"Canada may not be a bad place to try an ISIS attack on North America. As a matter of fact, I've been considering to test out a new weapon that we have recently managed to create."

Lex then pressed an intercom and ordered that the new weapon be brought into the conference room. A few moments later, the doors opened and a pair of men in white lab coats walked into the conference room holding out a high powered rifle.

"Gentlemen," Lex presented, showing off his new toy. "The Lexcorp Model .94 rifle."

"It's very impressive, Mr. Luthor," said a board member. "But, don't you think we should test it out here or in Syria before sending it to North America?"

"Yes, I agree," chirped the rest of the board. "The weapon must be tested."

"The weapon will be tested in North America," Lex said in a commanding voice. "And I want it made clear by all of you that you will support my decision. If you refuse to support, there's the door."

And to prove his point, Lex pointed towards the doors.

"Good, you all agree with me on this decision. Is there any ISIS member living in Canada?"

"One sir. A young man named Michael Bibeau, who had been fighting in Syria for the past few months."

"Then, I want him to sit down with me for a one on one interview," Lex said, writing down the man's name on a piece of paper. "Bring him here for a meeting with me in the next two days, is that understood?"

Soon, Lex began to scheme of ISIS' next plan of terror.

…

Meanwhile, two days after my visit with Twitter and Facebook, I was on an Amtrak train heading for Washington, DC and to the Tunisian embassy. During the ride, I began to wonder if it was really a matter of time before the next attack would be carried out. But, my train of thought was interrupted when my phone rang.

"Lane?" I asked.

"Lois, it's dad," I heard my dad say into the phone. "Are you heading to Washington?"

"Yes, I'm on the train heading down to meet the Tunisian ambassador to the US. Just another step in trying to stop Lex and ISIS. Any more details on that guy who attacked the Jewish museum?"

"Apparently, he's fighting extradition to Belgium. They want to try him on terrorism charges, but he wants to be tried in France."

"Why France?"

"Search me, but it's going to be a mystery to everybody for a while. Listen, Lois, I'd like to see you after you meet with the Tunisian Ambassador. Do you have any time between now and…?"

"Yeah, I've got some time and if I need to stay longer, I will. In fact, I've been thinking about seeing you as well."

"Well, at least we agree on something, Lois. Call me after your visit. Love you."

"Love you, dad."

Hanging up the phone, I absorbed the fact that my dad and I were getting together as the Amtrak train neared Washington, DC and towards my visit with the Tunisian ambassador…


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Meeting the Tunisian Ambassador"

Once I arrived in Washington, I soon found myself at the entrance to the Embassy of Tunisia which wasn't a very well known Embassy as all the other Embassies in the Washington area, but I nevertheless was willing to pay a visit. No sooner did I go inside was I greeted by a well dressed Middle Eastern man in Western business attire.

"May I help you, miss?" he asked in a Tunisian accent.

"Um, I'm Lois Lane from the Daily Planet," I answered, showing my credentials to the man. "And I'm looking for the Tunisian ambassador to the US."

"Yes, he's me. I'm Faycal Gouia, the current ambassador," he said, shaking my hand. "I wasn't expecting any reporters today, but I'm willing to make an exception to you, Miss Lane. After all, I've read some of your stories and I must say, you are quite the newswoman."

"Well, thanks, Mr. Ambassador," I remarked, satisfied that someone of a higher power appreciated what I do for a living. Soon, we walked back towards his office at the back of the Embassy. "Now, I'm certain you know why I am here."

"It's to talk about the large amount of Tunisians going to join ISIS, isn't it? I will admit that it is a bitter pill to take, considering its my own people joining these barbarians."

Judging from the look on the ambassadors face, I could tell that he was very troubled by this whole situation. Here he was, the citizen of a middle eastern country and he was forced to watch his own people join the ranks of ISIS.

"Haven't you been able to try and reach out to any Tunisians living in the United States?"

"Yes, but most of them don't want to listen to me, Miss Lane. It's like I'm just nothing more than a broken reed, a chaff in the wind, an elephant in the room. I want to try and keep my people from going to throw their lives away for a dumb ideal."

"How many Tunisians in the United States have actually gone to Syria since the attack in Brussels?"

"Quite a few, Miss Lane. It's very sad really. Many of the people who have gone to Syria claim that they want to live out a better life and play by their own rules."

Almost immediately, I began to think back to the Coachman in Disney's _Pinocchio_ and how he was successful in collecting stupid little boys and bringing them to Pleasure Island to turn them into donkeys or jackasses.

"Have you ever been to Syria yourself, Mr. Ambassador?"

"Before the civil war that has engulfed the nation, Miss Lane? Yes, I have," he answered. "I will be honest that the country has been falling into chaos even before the war started. Everything about Damascus seems like it doesn't matter anymore. And I can't blame Syrians for wanting to get out. They don't deserve to be slaves of a dictator nor do they have to tolerate his actions. We are all humans at the end of the day, Miss Lane. You, me and the entire human race are just that…humans."

"If you were to run your country's government, what would you do?"

"I would immediately open my borders to all refugees and say that Tunisia will welcome you with open arms. But, it just doesn't seem that easy. Miss Lane, when you type up your story based on this interview, I want you to show the world that Tunisia will not and will never tolerate such barbarism and violence in any way."

The look on the Tunisian ambassador's face made it very clear just how hard he was trying to press the fact that this was a major problem.

…

As I left the Tunisian embassy, I also began to think of the other countries that were also largely affected by this such as Russia and Turkey. But, I couldn't think about them for very long as I agreed to meet my dad for a short visit before I returned to Providence that night.

"Nice of you to meet me, Lois," my dad said as we sat at a Starbucks not far from the Pentagon. "How was your meeting with the Ambassador?"

"Can't help but really feel for the guy," I sighed. "He's trying to keep his people from going to Syria and joining ISIS, but he seems like he's failing miserably. In fact, have you been monitoring how many people from here have been going to join ISIS?"

"Americans, Lois?" my dad remarked, taking a sip of coffee. "A very small amount, but any amount is of major concern."

"What about Russia or Turkey?"

"Living in the United States? We aren't sure, but it would be a good start to possibly sit down with both the Russian and Turkish ambassadors to the US. Get the story from their point of view and how ISIS is affecting them."

"Well in any case," I replied, reaching into my white purse and pulling out a small notebook. "You know how I have always admired Russian culture but have always detested their government. Don't you feel the same way?"

"At times, yes, Lois, I do. Remember how we always went to see the Nutcracker every Christmas? That was how I introduced you and Lucy to Russian culture. If you ever decide to get married, Lois…"

"Let's not worry about that right now, dad," I interrupted. "You know how I am when I am around men, Lex Luthor being an example."

"Yes, him. But the fact of the matter is, Lois, that the public is going to turn their backs on Russian culture if they learn the truth about what Russia really is."

"The government isn't going to change anytime soon, Dad. I know what you are saying, that parents won't introduce their kids to Russian culture because if this keeps up, there won't be any Russian people to show Russian culture to show future generations."

Of course, Russia's government was indeed corrupt, but it wasn't them to be of great concern about. There were plenty of countries that had been affected by ISIS and their beliefs and I couldn't blame my dad for feeling that our world and its culture was falling apart, because it was true, it was falling apart.

…

Nevertheless, the visit with him went well and soon, I was on the train heading back to Providence ready to put together the story about my visit with the Turkish ambassador. As the weeks passed, news of several more foreigners in Syria joined Daniel as they were executed by ISIS militants and soon, on a bright sunny morning in October, ISIS would carry out their second major attack in Canada's capitol city, Ottawa…


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Terror in Ottawa"

For the next few months since the attack in Belgium, the only time that ISIS made the headlines was when they executed their latest foreign captives. In any case, our government struggled to come to terms with what ISIS was and what their ambitions were in creating their own world with them at the helm.

Nevertheless, the next time ISIS struck was in October, which would take place in the seat of Canada's power and authority.

"Lane!" I heard Perry scream from his office on the afternoon of October 20th. "Get in here!"

"What is it, chief?" I asked Perry as I walked into his office.

"There's been a shooting at Parliament hill in Ottawa," he barked. "Apparently, it's a young man in his 20's."

"Muslim?"

"Not sure, but you'd better start making arrangements to get over there."

Leaving Perry's office, I put aside what I was doing and began to make arrangements to fly out to Ottawa. As I made my usual last minute reservations, I couldn't help but wonder if Lex had something to do with this.

"What's Perry up to?" Clark asked as he walked by my desk.

"Been a shooting in Ottawa, on Parliament Hill."

Before I could turn away from the computer screen, I saw that Clark had already taken off. Then again, it wasn't out of the ordinary. But, no sooner did Clark leave did Superman already make his move, racing over to Ottawa and towards Parliament Hill, which was already being evacuated. Superman could see the members of Canada's highest authority already racing out of the building, terror filled on their faces. He then saw the man in question firing rounds into the building.

"GUN! GUN! GUN!" shouted a constable trying to subdue the suspect as Superman went to confront the individual. The constable was shot in the foot as the suspect tried to escape, only to be confronted by Superman. Snarling like a wild animal, he fired at Superman's chest attempting to kill him.

"Perhaps you've never heard of me," Superman said.

But, the suspect wouldn't back down and was just about to fire several more rounds when a group of security personnel came into the room, firing several rounds at him. The suspect wasn't going to back down that easily and shot back at the personnel, determined to get away from his own mess. However, he was eventually wounded, letting out a loud scream of pain.

"You won't catch me!" he screamed. "Allah Akbar!"

But Superman had other ideas as he tackled the suspect, trying to subdue him.

"Get off of me infidel!"

"Stop this now!" grunted Superman as the man of steel took on the suspect, only to be met with a punch to this face, which he quickly rebounded from as the suspect took to his feet and fled with Superman hot on his tail. Chasing him to the Library of Parliament, he confronted the suspect again. "Surrender and you won't be hurt!"

"Never!" the suspect shouted grabbing a heavy metal object and hurling it at Superman, which quickly bounced off of him. In a blind rage, he took his gun and opened fire on Superman, trying to aim for his head. No sooner did he open fire on Superman again, did several security personnel stormed the Library and fired several rounds, hitting the suspect in the chest. With his eyes locked on Superman, he was thrusted back against the wall and died before he could hit the ground.

"He was too far gone," Superman thought to himself as the security personnel surrounded him, then he saw the weapon lying next to him. He went over and picked up the weapon and inspected it. "Luthor."

…

Back in Turkey, Lex and his high ranking executives were in a room watching the events in Ottawa unfold on a television screen.

"It appears that Michael has succeeded in carrying out his mission," remarked a board member. "What do you think, Mr. Luthor?"

"I would say that he did and it appears that Superman was also there," he said, a look of disappointment on his face. "But, rather than kill him, he let himself be killed. Let me reassure you all that I won't consider our mission a success unless Superman and Lois Lane are dead. Even if Lexcorp's new weapon is a success, Superman remains alive."

"Is there any weak spot on Superman's body, Mr. Luthor?" asked another board member.

"Not quite, unless if there is a weapon that contains Superman's ultimate weakness."

He then looked towards a glass container that held a shimmering green glowing rock right at the center of the table.

"Ah yes, my dear Kryptonite," he chuckled. "Pretty soon, you will get your chance of destroying Superman once and for all."

At that moment, Lex knew that he needed to get the Kryptonite involved somehow. Kryptonite always fascinated Lex and this was no exception to the rule.

"Gentlemen," he said to his Turkish executives. "Send a message to our associates in Syria and Iraq, telling them that our next attack will be involving Kryptonite. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Mr. Luthor."

…

The next day, I arrived at Boston's Logan Airport and flew Air Canada Express flight 8045 to Ottawa, leaving at 8:30am and arriving at 9:45am. Once I cleared immigration and customs, I was on my way to Parliament Hill which was under heavy guard. No sooner did I arrive at Parliament Hill, did I notice something else at the National War Memorial.

"Lois," I heard Clark say as he walked towards me. "They say that a guard was killed here in the attacks."

"I trust you got here as soon as you learned of what was happening?" I asked in sarcastic tone. "And I assume you covered Superman confronting the individual?"

"I did and it appeared that some security personnel have said that Superman was the target, which meant that Lex Luthor is somewhat responsible for this."

"Of course he is responsible, Smallville. Why else would Superman be lured here?"

As I spoke, I couldn't help but wonder just exactly what was going to be at stake here. This attack clearly was meant to draw Superman here and kill him.

"For that matter, is ISIS responsible?"

"Yes, they confirmed that this morning, Lois. It appears that ISIS is bringing their actions to North America. If they can attack Canada, then it will only be a matter of time before they attack somewhere in the United States."

And I knew that Clark was right, ISIS was going to attack the United States eventually and I had a feeling that Lex was going to make sure I was killed on American soil.

But, the next question remained, where was ISIS going to strike next?


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Funeral for a Hero"

For the next two days, I stayed in Ottawa, covering the aftermath of the attack on Parliament Hill. It seemed that while I was going to be here, I might as well make the best of it. Perry had ordered me and Clark to stay and cover the funeral for the Canadian soldier who was killed by the suspect. On the day of the funeral, I dressed in a black business suit and reported on the shocked and dazed Canadian citizens filing past the soldier's coffin, guarded by several Canadian Mounties.

"It's sad, isn't it?" I heard Clark say in a solemn voice as we watched people file past the coffin. "These monsters killing people just to make a point."

"You're telling me, Clark. But, I've seen plenty of military funerals and I ask myself the same question of why these things happen?"

Just then, we saw two injured young men walking towards the coffin and they were dressed in military uniforms of a highland regiment. Then, they saw Clark and I standing by and walked over to us. They had bandages on their bodies which meant that they also confronted the suspect.

"I take you are here to cover the funeral, is that it?" one of them asked, glancing over at me.

"We are."

"Then, please go outside and cover the funeral from there. We all want to remember Nathan in private, please."

"Kyle, please!" said the other, trying to show off a bit of respect for Clark and I. "I'm sorry, it's just that we've been…"

"You don't need to apologize," Clark interrupted. "I see that you encountered the suspect."

"At the memorial," remarked the good soldier, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm telling you, it just came out of nowhere. The guy was out of his mind."

He then motioned for me and Clark to move to a quieter part of the viewing where we could talk in private.

"What do you mean he was out of his mind?" Lois asked.

"It happened around 10:00 or so. He just came up to us dressed in a black shirt, blue jeans and had a scarf around his neck, like one of those people from the Middle East. We questioned him on what he was doing and he began firing at us right out of the woodwork."

"I assume you confronted him?" I wondered.

"We did. But, he wounded Kyle and me and shot Nathan dead. I just can't believe it, lady. He just got back from Afghanistan and was looking forward to seeing his wife and son…"

"How old was Nathan?"

"29."

Hearing the age of the dead soldier sent a chill down my spine as I was pretty much in the range of 29. Still, I couldn't let this anxiety get to me. I had a job to do and I was going to do it.

"In fact, just the other day, he was talking about leaving the highlanders, because he had been suffering from some kind of disorder that comes from us fighting overseas."

"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?" I asked, writing down the man statement in my notebook.

"That's the one. But, this guy clearly was not suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in any way. He actually had a weapon that was made from Lexcorp."

"How did you know?"

"About a few days ago," the soldier explained. "We had received intelligence from our superiors in the Middle East that said that Lex Luthor was negotiating with ISIS to aid in carrying out a future attack in our country. Apparently, Lex Luthor has a goal to rid the world of Superman."

"Not old news to us," I remarked. "Was there any more intelligence about Lex Luthor that you heard?"

"None, Miss…"

"Lois Lane, Daily Planet," I interrupted showing off my credentials to the two soldiers. "Thanks for your time and sorry for the loss of your comrade."

At that moment, Clark and I left the room and we joined the rest of the people in watching the casket being carried to a waiting hearse. For the rest of the day, we continued to cover the funeral service and soon, the time had come for us to return to Boston.

"It's like I said, Smallville," I said to Clark as we boarded our Air Canada Express Flight to Boston the following morning after the funeral. "Lex had something to do with this and I know it. Otherwise, how else could he have financed this attack?"

"He didn't finance it, Lois. He just provided the weapon that the suspect used to carry out the atrocity. He wants Superman dead in every way, you know. In fact, if you want, I can stay with you at your apartment tonight."

Almost immediately, I could tell that Clark was trying to sense that Lex was after me too.

"Thanks Smallville, but that won't be necessary. My building has some pretty good security and has an alarm system."

"So you say," he remarked. "But, then again, you've always been sort of a target for every criminal we or Superman have ever come across."

"I hope you've gotten used to that, Clark."

All Clark could was say nothing and then, we settled in for the short flight back to Boston. Air Canada Express Flight 8044 took off from Ottawa at 6:20am and landed in Boston at 7:45am. From there, we were back at the Daily Planet sharing what we had reported on with Perry.

"Hmm, not bad for the both of you," Perry said as he studied the notes we had taken in Ottawa. "But, I don't know if the stuff you wrote about Lex should be on here."

"Chief, he's financing a terror group in order to get close to Superman," I said, much to my shock. "The guy did say that the gunman was using a weapon made by Lexcorp."

"Well, we can't jump to any conclusions, Lois. If we provide any false information against Lexcorp, then we could end up getting sued and we don't want that to happen, don't we?"

Rather than pick a fight with my boss, I kept myself subdued and returned to my duties. All I could think of was trying to find a way to get Lexcorp exposed. I knew and Superman knew that we were being targeted by ISIS on behalf of Lex Luthor himself and several months later, Lex would help ISIS launch their next attack in the capital of France…


End file.
